This paper examines the effect of vertical diversity in workers' skill on the long-run growth rate of an economy. It uses a two-sector model where the technology of the consumption-good sector is supermodular and that of the R&D sector is submodular. By adopting Grossman and Maggi's (2000) model to a framework of growth, it shows first that diversity is conducive to growth. As the main innovation, a notion of communication gap is introduced among workers. It is shown that if vertical diversity is sufficiently high relative to the communication gap, the growth rate may not increase with diversity; there may be an inverse-U shaped relationship.
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Charles I. Jones, 2004.
"Growth and Ideas,"
NBER Working Papers
10767, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Jones, Charles I., 2005.
"Growth and Ideas,"
Handbook of Economic Growth,
in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 16, pages 1063-1111
Elsevier.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Gene M. Grossman & Giovanni Maggi, 2000.
"Diversity and Trade,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1255-1275, December.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Gene M. Grossman & Giovanni Maggi, 1998.
"Diversity and Trade,"
NBER Working Papers
6741, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)